37/150: The real-life Cyclops

animalia: Arthropoda: Maxillopoda: Cyclopoida: Cyclopidae: Cyclops

Though the name might seem fitting for a monster, Cyclops is a small copepod that happens to share the same body characteristic of a single large eye on its head region with the mythological giant. Cyclops is found widely in freshwater regions and prefers the slow-moving and stagnant bodies of water. These omnivores feed on plants, animals and even carrion. Despite lacking in the size department, the cyclops copepod can still be quite threatening. Diseases such as the guinea-worm diseases and fish tapeworm infections have designated the cyclops to be their intermediary hosts, which have given rise to programs and projects focused on the elimination of these animals near human environments. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150

Unlike other copepods, the cyclops possesses a forked tail called a ‘furca’. Photo Credit: Leo Papandreou goo.gl/V546L7A cyclops copepod is shaped with a cylindrical body and a rounded head! Photo Credit: Great Lakes Image Collection goo.gl/M3yByZA female cyclops copepod is seen with eggs in her posterior region and a male cyclops copepod on her right. Photo Credit: J. Liebig, NOAA GLERL, 2000. goo.gl/PJlYaC

36/150: Bug-on-a-stick: neither a stick bug nor a bug

36/150: Bug-on-a-stick: neither a stick bug nor a bug

This unusual plant is actually a species of moss! Buxbaumia aphylla, known as bug-on-a-stick, is found across the upper Northern Hemisphere in temperate and subarctic regions. Despite being a hardy moss that can tolerate poor soil quality and disturbed habitats, it is a short-lived competitor and has a hard time establishing new populations. It is a rare microscopic moss with reduced, microscopic leaves and gametophytes and is very rarely seen. Only the reproductive sporophyte is visible, appearing as a stalked green or brown capsule which gives the impression of a bug on the end of a stick. To disperse its spores, the bug-on-a-stick relies on rain drops to make contact with the flat capsule in order to eject the spores, assuming the yummy-looking green capsule isn’t eaten by hungry herbivores! We have successful barcodes for seven specimens of this species. #Canada150 #Biodiversity150